Task List
Name

PROGRAM &
MANUFACTURER

WHAT IT IS
AND WHAT YOU CAN DO
Hbinst HBInst.exe

(Hotbar.com)		 HotBar installer. HotBar is a piece of software which supposedly enhances and personalizes your Internet and E-mail applications.  Typically you can have hundreds of backgrounds, brighten your browser with colourful images, and enhance your surfing experience with Smart Buttons. More details at www.HotBar.com.  (Be careful NOT to click on the big yellow arrow which says "I have read and I agree to the terms of use" as HotBar will then install automatically !!)

Recommendation :
Do not use under any circumstance in a business environment.  The first time we came across HotBar we were trying to solve slow Internet Explorer loading and sluggish Internet Access Performance, in addition to unexplained crashes of the PC.  There is no doubt that having HotBar installed does make your browser pretty;  however, after first investigating everything else, we eventually told the user we would have to de-install HotBar to see if that cured the problems.  It did !  Further investigations of the version of HotBar we were using then also showed that this process accesses the Internet when you are connected, and it constantly communicates back to a specific IP address.  This activity is explained when one takes the time to read the License Agreement which states, unequivocally,  "Hotbar collects and stores information about the web pages you view and the data you enter in search engine search fields while using the software.  Hotbar uses this information to determine which ads and buttons to display on your hotbar toolbars and which ads to show in your browser".  In short, this is what we call adware.  This alone explains the sluggish Internet performance of a PC when HotBar is installed, as any software which connects back to ad servers and then pulls up ads, automatically decreases Internet browsing performance.  For all these reasons our recommendation is that you do not use HotBar.  To remove HotBar download SpyBot Search & Destroy from our Downloads page.
Hbsrv HBSrv.exe

(Hotbar.com)		 Part of Hotbar.com’s HotBar.  See HBINST above for more details.

Hcdetect

HCDetect.exe

(Microsoft)

Background process of the Microsoft Home Click networking software.  Microsoft Home Click is a simple home network setup and configuration program which comes included with 3Com’s HomeConnect networking products.  It is used primarily in North America and is seen very little elsewhere.  HCDETECT.EXE runs in the background for network printer notification, detection, and the Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) taskbar icon.  There is a bug in HCDETECT.EXE where it does not automatically detect shared USB printers (see Microsoft Knowledgebase article Q272133).

Recommendation : 
There are problems with HCDETECT.EXE, resulting at times in the need to reboot the network in order to regain lost memory.  That said, HCDETECT.EXE is a necessary component of the HomeClick software – you should therefore leave this process alone.
Helpsvc HelpSVC.exe

(Microsoft)		 Microsoft Help Center Service – Windows XP.  In our experience you will only see this task running if you have Automatic Updates turned ON or if you are in the process of running a Windows Update, or you access the Windows XP Help, as this task’s main job is to install Microsoft updates to the Windows XP Help and Support Center, and most specifically, new Headlines. Microsoft’s description of Headlines :  "A useful feature of Help and Support Center is the Headlines area.  This area is typically titled "Did you know?" and is usually located in the lower-right corner of the main window, unless the window has been customized by the OEM or modified for certain languages.  A page in Help and Support Center with more Headlines is exposed to users when they click the "View more headlines" hyperlink at the bottom of the "Did you know?" section.  Headlines provides a dynamic source of content that users can visit frequently to find help and support on current issues as well as those that were known at the time the operating system was released.  For example, it may display links to topics that inform the user about new security bulletins, software updates, or new Help content.".

Recommendation :
In most cases this task terminates once the Windows Update terminates and/or you exit the Windows XP Help.  It has been known, however, not to terminate itself and instead to run away with CPU usage, up to 90%, with the obvious impact on the PC’s performance.  If this happens regularly create a DWORD entry called Headlines and give it the value of 0, for the following Registry Key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ PCHealth \ HelpSvc \ (only advanced users should attempt this).  This disables the Headlines feature which simply means that your Help and Support Center headlines are never updated.

Hgcctl95

HGCCTL95.exe

(E-Color)

Colorific Tray icon.  The Colorific color calibration software comes bundled with a number of high end video cards.  This System Tray icon enables you to bring up the Display Properties, and be automatically positioned on the Colorific tab.

Recommendation : 
Totally unnecessary clutter of the System Tray – color calibration is something you do infrequently when you change monitors or printer drivers and you can access the Display Properties in so many other ways.  Delete using Startup Manager.

Hidserv

HIDServ.exe

(Microsoft)

Microsoft’s Human Interface Device Audio Service for Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP.  This background service is entirely to do with USB and provides support for Audio devices attached to your USB ports, and for Audio controls operating through a USB connection.  This process will typically be needed if you run a multimedia USB keyboard where you can control volume and other audio aspects, or if you use a USB gaming joystick which gives you the power to control the audio aspects of your PC.

Recommendation : 
If you do not use any of the above, disable using Startup Manager, then test that your PC is running fine.  In Win98SE/ME/2000 disabling it should not cause you any problems – we have however experienced one or two problems disabling this service under Windows XP.
Hkcmd HKCMD.EXE

(Intel)		 Intel’s Hotkey Command Module.

See IGFXTRAY for more details.
Hkserv HKServ.exe

(Sony)		 Sony’s Hotkey Server. Keyboard background utility program found on Sony Vaio laptops.  Without this Windows program you cannot use some of the Fn+Function-Key key combinations.

Recommendation :
Leave untouched if you are running on a Sony Vaio.
Hkwnd HKWnd.exe

(Sony)		 Sony’s Hotkey Client.  Seems to work in conjuction with HKSERV above.

Recommendation :
As per HKSERV.
Hotsync HotSync.exe

(Palm Inc.)		 HotSync Manager program.  This System Tray task is installed when you install the Palm Desktop software for Palm handheld computers.  It is automatically started at boot-up by the "Startup" program group.

Recommendation :
As with most handheld synchronisation programs, you cannot use any other COM ports (serial ports) or modems while the "HotSync Manager" is running on a COM port,  ie. you cannot fax or dialup by modem to the Internet while HOTSYNC is running.  We have not yet tested the USB version. Our recommendation therefore is that you disable HOTSYNC with Startup Manager and simply start it up via "Start \ Programs" whenever you need to synchronize your Palmtop with your PC.
Hottray HotTray.exe

(eFax.com)		 System Tray access for eFax Messenger Plus. eFax is a system which allows you to send and receive faxes by e-mail using eFax.com as the router.  eFax Messenger Plus also allows you to send attachments as self-viewing attachments (in case the recipient does not have the right software to view the attachment using the original creating software).

Recommendation :
If you send a lot of faxes by eFax Messenger Plus, then accessing it through the System Tray is most convenient.  If you run Windows NT4 and IE 5.x, you will need to disable HOTTRAY with Startup Manager as there is an incompatibility in that environment.

Hpcron

Hpcron.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

Part of HP’s Simple Trax software.  HP’s Simple Trax is backup software which is included with some HP CD-Writers and which enables you to backup to CDs – you can perform both manual and scheduled backups with Simple Trax.

Recommendation : 
Although we are not 100% sure about it, from the reports we have received HPCRON seems to be a background task which notifies the end-user of the success or not of a Simple Trax backup operation that was running in a background window while the user was doing something else in the foreground.  Users who have disabled it with Startup Manager report being able to continue using Simple Trax in the normal manner.
Hpfbkg02 HPfbkg02.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task which is part of the drivers for the HP DeskJet 600C.

Recommendation :
At this stage we are not sure of what HPFBKG02 really does, so our recommendation has to be that you leave it alone.

Hpfsched

HPFSched.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

HPFSCHED.EXE is a background task which is installed by the drivers of some HP DeskJet printers (e.g. 660C, 670C, 680C, 690C, 720C). Its sole purpose is to remind you from time to time to clean the cartridges in your DeskJet so as to keep the print quality high.  Most end-users find these popups extremely irritating and in that respect Epson have found a better compromise by implementing the cleaning of cartridges as an automatic hardware feature which kicks in at specific intervals of usage, as well as being something you can start manually.

Recommendation : 
Disable or delete with Startup Manager.
Hpgs2wnd

Hpgs2wnf		 HPgS2Wnd.exe

HPgS2Wnf.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background tasks installed by the HP Share-to-Web software. HP’s Share-to-Web software enables the end-user to transfer pictures and images directly from their HP scanner, all-in-one multifunctional printer, or digital camera, to HP-recommended secure online photo sharing providers.  These providers provide services such as secure online photo sharing, photo reprints, creation and sending of electronic or printed greetings, online document and file sharing, online backup of important files.

Recommendation :
This is not a concept which we believe has worked.  The take-up has been slow to non-existent, as of June 2002 many providers have ceased trading, the software is cumbersome to use, but most importantly, the fast take-up of broadband access allied to the massive increase of home user/family websites, is making the concept redundant.  Unless you are one of the few users who use HP’s Share-to-Web software, we recommend de-installing it via the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel – you do not need these two unused and not needed background tasks.
Hphmon03 HPHMon03.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 System Tray monitoring task for the HP Photosmart P1000, P1100, P1115, P1200 and P1315 series of printers.  The icon shows you whether the printer is connected or not, and whether there is a print job in progress.

Recommendation :
Unusually for a System Tray printer monitoring task, this task seems to do more in the background than just monitor the printer;  if you disable it, printing can slow down dramatically in our experience.  As a result our recommendation is to keep this task.  Note :  if you run Windows 2000/XP and you experience 100% CPU usage that you can trace back to HPHMON03, then it is probably because your printer port is configured as EPP rather than ECP.
Hpi_monitor HPI_Monitor.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task installed with HP Digital Camera software.  It monitors your USB port. When it senses that you have connected your HP digital camera, it brings up the HP software to enable you to download the images from your camera.

Recommendation :
If you use your digital camera often, this system is extremely convenient and user-friendly. However, there have been reports of occasional conflicts between HPI_MONITOR and other applications.  If you experience such a conflict, simply disable HPI_MONITOR with Startup Manager and then start the HP Digital Camera software manually.
Hplamp HPLamp.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Energy Star and Fast Lamp Warm-up background task installed by the drivers for many Hewlett-Packard scanners, such as the 3200C, 3300C, 3400C, 4300C, 4400C, 5200C, the list goes on.  This task runs as soon as Windows boots and what it effectively does is tell the scanner to pre-warm the lamp in advance of you actually needing to use the scanner.

Recommendation :
This is a buggy piece of software which works on some PCs, and causes "Fatal Exception", "Stack Overflow", or "Invalid Page Fault" errors on other PCs.  And it does not stop there – on yet other PCs it is responsible for the scanner lamp never turning off !!! HP have issued patches and software updates which address various HPLAMP problems but it still remains a very flaky piece of software in our opinion.  So, if you have HPLAMP problems, the most important thing to remember is that you can use your scanner without it – simply disable it with Starter, and then do a Find/Search on your hard disk for HPLAMP.EXE and rename it to HPLAMP.EXE.OLD.

Hpmdlbwa

Hpmdlbwa.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

Scan Button task for the HP OfficeJet R Series.  This task enables the user to press the Scan button on the OfficeJet front panel to scan documents.

Recommendation : 
There are known problems on some PCs between this task and the mouse, or with other devices which share the same printer port as the OfficeJet (eg. Zip drives).  If you experience such problems then disable this task with Startup Manager and then use the HP Precision Scan software from "Start \ Programs" as, once HPMDLBWA is disabled, you will no longer be able to use the Scan button on your OfficeJet control panel.

HpmmKbd

HpmmKbd.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

Hewlett-Packard’s multimedia keyboard driver which enables the end-user to use the automation features of the HP multimedia keyboard.

Recommendation : 
There are a few reports of conflicts with some applications.  If you are trying to troubleshoot unexplained problems, disable using Startup Manager.

Hpobkgo1

HPObkgo1

(Hewlett-Packard)

This background program is called by HPOJVDIX described below.
Hpobnz08 HPObnz08.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task loaded by the drivers for the HP PSC 2100 & 2200 series of multifunction printers.

Recommendation :
As we are not yet sure about the role of this task we can only recommend that you leave it untouched.
Hpobrt07 HPObrt07.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 HP OfficeJet PSC 700/900 Series COM Device Objects.  This task listens for specific events on the OfficeJet (e.g scanning, faxing) and initiates the appropriate software response, or starts the appropriate program on the PC.  All communications between the PC and the OfficeJet, other than printing, are done through this task.

Recommendation :
Essential for the proper functioning of the PSC 700/900 drivers and software applications.
Hpoevm07

Hpoevm08		 HPOevm07.exe

HPOevm08.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background HP Image Editor task installed by the drivers for the HP OfficeJet K60 & G85 (hpoevm07) and HP PSC 2100 & 2200 (hpoevm08) series of multifunction printers.

Recommendation :
This task is bad press for HP. Almost all Windows 2000/XP users who install an HP PSC 2100 or 2200 series printer immediately complain of their PCs having become extremely slow and of "HPOEVM07.exe is not responding" or "HPOEVM08.exe is not responding" errors on shutdown.  HP have issued a fix for it for HPOEVM08 which, strangely enough, is actually on the CD that your printer comes with, but it does not get installed automatically (that’s plain silly!).  To install the fix drill down to the Util\CCC\ImageEditor folder on the software CD and copy the file HPQVWR08.EXE from that CD folder to the following folder on your C: drive :  "C: \ Program Files \ Hewlett-Packard \ Digital Imaging \ Bin".  Then reboot.

Hpojstart

HPOJStart.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

This background program gets installed when you install the HP software suite for some of Hewlett-Packard’s OfficeJet printers, e.g. the OfficeJet 500.  This program sometimes causes problems when you need to use parallel port devices, such as parallel port CD-ROM or Hard Disk drives, parallel port tape drives, etc..

 Recommendation :
Not necessary.  If you experience problems with the use of your parallel port when you are not using your OfficeJet, delete it using Startup Manager.

Hpojvdix

HPOjvdix

(Hewlett-Packard)

This background program gets installed when you install the HP software suite for some of Hewlett-Packard’s OfficeJet printers, e.g. the OfficeJet 500.  This program sometimes causes problems when you need to use parallel port devices, such as parallel port CD-ROM or Hard Disk drives, parallel port tape drives, etc..

 Recommendation :
Not necessary.  If you experience problems with the use of your parallel port when you are not using your OfficeJet, delete it using Startup Manager.
Hpomlch HPOmlch.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 This background program gets installed when you install the HP software suite for some of Hewlett-Packard’s OfficeJet printers, e.g. the OfficeJet 500.  This program sometimes causes problems when you need to use parallel port devices, such as parallel port CD-ROM or Hard Disk drives, parallel port tape drives, etc..

Recommendation :
Not necessary. If you experience problems with the use of your parallel port when you are not using your OfficeJet, delete it using Startup Manager.
Hposol08 HPOsol08.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task loaded by the drivers for the HP PSC 2100 & 2200 series of multifunction printers.

Recommendation :
As we are not yet sure about the role of this task we can only recommend that you leave it untouched.
Hposts07
Hposts08		 HPOsts07.exe

HPOsts08.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 HP OfficeJet Status Monitor task for HP’s multifunction printers (OfficeJets).  This background task is loaded by the drivers for the HP OfficeJet K series, G series, V40, and PSC 700 series (HPOSTS07) and OfficeJet PSC 2100 & 2200 series (HPOSTS08).  This task shows as an OfficeJet icon in your System Tray and you can right-click or double-click on it to get information about what your printer is doing, or ink cartridge levels, etc...

Recommendation :
While we have little experience of HPOSTS08, there is nothing good we can say about HPOSTS07 and the whole "07" class of OfficeJet drivers. Inability to properly shut down your PC, excessive consumption of CPU resources, or "Not responding" problems are the main issues with this HPOSTS07.  If you experience such problems, first see if there are newer drivers available.  If you already have the latest drivers, then disable HPOSTS07 with Starter – you will be missing the System Tray status icon but at least you should find that you can now shutdown normally !
HPotbxo1 HPOtbxo1.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 This background program is called by HPOJVDIX described above.
Hppdirector HPPDirector.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 LaserJet Director device monitoring task which sits in the System Tray.  This task is installed by the drivers for most recent HP multifunction printers (scanner, printer, and sometimes fax) such as the LaserJet 1220 or the LaserJet 3300mfp.  This System Tray icon enables you to monitor your HP printer.

Recommendation :
Printer monitoring System Tray icons are usually harmless.  This is not the case, however, of HPPDIRECTOR which is known to sometimes prevent users from printing to some of the other printers installed on their PC.  HPPDIRECTOR is also known to cause DDE exception errors in some programs.  For all these reasons our advice would be to disable it by right-clicking on the icon in the System Tray and taking the tick off "Monitor Device".  Alternatively you can use Starter to disable it from starting up.
Hpppt HPPPT.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 HP Parallel Port Test task installed by the drivers for many HP ScanJet scanners.  This task is supposed to be a one-off task which, on installation of the drivers, checks that your parallel port is set up in the right mode in the BIOS, typically ECP (although EPP is fine for the more recent scanners).  The task is then not supposed to be running after the PC has been restarted, but in many cases it still does.

Recommendation :
If you are not experiencing problems with this task, you can either decide to leave it alone, or disable it with Starter.  Otherwise this task can cause nightmares under Windows 2000, from blue screen crashes on boot-up, to spurious Explorer windows opening on startup.  We recommend that you always disable this task with Starter as we ourselves always delete it !!

Hppwrsav

HPPwrSav.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

HP Power Save background task for the HP ScanJet 3200C.  The original version of the Windows 95/98 drivers would cause the PC to freeze for 3 to 8 seconds several times an hour, would cause Internet disconnection, or would have the mouse freeze occasionally.

Recommendation : 
If you have a ScanJet 3200C and experience the above problems, either download and install this patch,  or download the very latest drivers which should be dated at least January 2002.
Hprtry09 HPRTRY09.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 HP 2000C Taskbar Icon.  System Tray icon for the HP 2000C Toolbox.  From that icon you can see the status of print jobs, how much ink is left in the cartridges, clean and align the heads, or troubleshoot printing problems.

Recommendation :
Down to end-user preference.  You can disable/delete this through Starter.

Hpsjbmgr

HPsjbmgr.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)

HP ScanJet Background Manager process.  Installed when you install the drivers for some HP ScanJet scanners.

Recommendation : 
Leave alone unless you are experiencing problems.  If you are experiencing problems, then experiment by disabling it through Startup Manager.
Hpsjvxd HPSJvxd.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 HP Scan Monitor. Background task necessary for the proper operation of 2100c, 2200c, 3300c, 3400c, 4100c, 4300c, 5200c, 5300c, 6200c, 6300c HP ScanJet scanners.

Recommendation :
If you have one of the above scanners, you will need to leave this task running in order to properly operate your scanner.
Hpzeng03 HPZeng03.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task installed by the drivers of some HP printers – eg. 640, 656c, 930c, 950c.

Recommendation :
We have as yet no idea as to what this task does, but we do have many reports of the task not responding or causing "Invalid Page Faults", in each case resulting in the printing freezing (locking up).  If you have such problems we suggest you first try to update your drivers from the HP website.  If that does not work, then try disabling this task using Starter and see if that affects printing in any specific manner.  If it does not, then leave it disabled, otherwise re-enable it (Note :  one user reports that deleting/renaming the file solved their problems).
Hpzipm12 HPZipm12.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background task loaded by the drivers for the HP PSC 2100, 2200, 4100, and 6100 series of multifunction printers.  This task seems to be involved in the handling of Zip drives if your PC has one, although we are not certain.

Recommendation :
Our [small sample of] evidence so far shows that this task is quite often responsible for PC slow-downs as well as serious conflicts with specific software packages (e.g. the inability to print anything from Sage Instant Accounting).  Disabling it with Starter does not seem to impact on the proper operation of the HP printer, but solves all the other problems.
Hpzstatx HPzstatx.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Nightmarish Printer Status Monitor task which is installed by the setup program of many HP DeskJet printers when installing on a Windows 9x/ME PC.  HPZSTATX does not get installed if you install your printer via the "Add Printer" icon in the Printers Panel – it only gets installed if you run the HP setup program.  Everything that HPZSTATX does, it does badly :  it uses too many system resources, and, worse, it frequently "hangs" the printing of documents with, in most cases, only a reboot solving the problem.  This is twisted !  A printer manufacturer producing a buggy piece of software which so often prevents the user from..... printing !!!

Recommendation :
If you have been experiencing printing jobs not coming out, get rid of HPZSTATX using one of the following methods :  either delete HPZSTATX.EXE from the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder in Safe Mode, or disable it with Starter, or rename it to HPZSTATX.EXE.OLD.
Hpztsb02

Hpztsb03

Hpztsb04

Hpztsb05		 HPztsb02.exe

HPztsb03.exe

HPztsb04.exe

HPztsb05.exe

(Hewlett-Packard)		 Background print job spooling tasks associated with some HP DeskJet printers (eg. DJ-930C, DJ-990C, DJ-3580).

Recommendation :
Essential – leave alone.
Hxdl Hxdl.exe

(Alset)		 Alset’s HelpExpress.  See HXIUL below for more details.

Recommendation :
As with HXIUL, uninstall HelpExpress via the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel.  If you cannot see HelpExpress as an application to remove, then delete HXDL with Startup Manager.

Hxiul

HXIUL.exe

(Alset)

Alset's HelpExpress.  Useless background adware which tells you when you need to buy printer cartridges, and where to buy them, and all sorts of other things like this.

Recommendation : 
Firstly Alset are the same crowd as Aveo who produce the similarly useless Aveo Attune.  Secondly, at the time of writing of this entry (March 2002), Alset and Aveo seem to have gone out of business.  Thirdly, as with Aveo Attune, some users have experienced conflicts with other software.  De-install HelpExpress immediately via the "Add/Remove Programs" icon in the Control Panel.